Chilton's Jerad Wagner dribbles out of the corner to secure the Tigers' one-point lead late in the fourth quarter of Chilton's 53-47 win over Hilbert Dec. 20 at Chilton. The win over the Wolves marked the first victory for Chilton in the 2011-2012 season.

On the team's eighth attempt at a victory, the Chilton boy's basketball squad was successful, grabbing a win over Olympian Conference rival Hilbert 53-47 in Chilton on Dec. 20.

Chilton's head coach Corey Behnke referred to grabbing that first win of the season as "a big weight off the shoulders" of the entire team. Behnke said he could sense a big shift in the team morale immediately after the win.

"It was the happiest I've seen this group in the last two months," Behnke said. "They've had a lot of fun together and had some great moments, but this was a huge sigh of relief. Guys were just like, 'all right now we know what we have to do and now we can just relax and play basketball.' There was a lot of confidence in the locker room after the game."

With an injection of confidence into the team, Behnke is expecting the Tigers to earn a few more victories, claiming after the first few losses the team put too much attention on the losing streak.

"It's a very talented group but come game time, they haven't been themselves because of that burden," Behnke said. "Especially because we beat Hilbert on top of it, it makes it a little more special."

There were multiple lead changes throughout the game as each team mounted numerous runs. The biggest run for Hilbert came in the fourth quarter when the Wolves hit four three-point shots to take the lead, but that didn't phase Behnke at all.

"The biggest thing I kept telling myself was that I can't show any concern," Behnke said. "I had to understand it's a game of runs and we made our run. We didn't rotate as well as we should have defensively on a few of those possessions and they got an open look and they hit it, so kudos to them for that. It was a lot of character we showed I thought battling back."

Danny Mallmann led Chilton's comeback late in the game as he hit multiple clutch shots to give Chilton the lead and to seal it.

Behnke credited the team's win to finally finding that aggression within the team.

"A lot of the teams we played so far play physical and we haven't responded all year to physicality," Behnke said. "Last night in the first quarter Hilbert came out real aggressive and for the first time all year our guys started pushing back. We picked up some stupid fouls because of it ... but it set the tone for our defense. It was the first time we got punched in the mouth and we responded and wanted to play hard basketball."

Another thing Behnke gave partial credit to was good practices the week before the game.

In the last 10 minutes of practice Behnke said the Varsity team matched up against the junior varsity team in a round of dodgeball, a game Behnke referred to as "stress relief."

"They were smiling again and it was fun," Behnke said. "I don't know if it worked or not but it was nice."

The Tigers continued their high-morale practices the day after the game, inviting two U.S. Marines to practice to lead the team through team-building exercises, which focused on accountability. Many of the drills forced the team to work together because if one player fell short the entire team was required to perform physical activities such as push-ups.

"I want the guys to understand that we're here for each other," Behnke said. "It's a good night for these guys to be forced to do team drills that they have to work together for and build that team unity. I preach to these guys all the time that one through 15 everyone guy is just as important and the drills we're doing tonight reinforce that."

Chilton will put its newly united team to the test on Jan. 5 when the Tigers are set to travel to Manitowoc to take on the Manitowoc Lutheran Lancers at 7:30 p.m. Behnke said he is expecting the game to be just as much as a fight as the game against Hilbert was.

"Physically they are a strong team," Behnke said. "The big thing we have to do is take care of the basketball and again establish a presence inside whether its rebounding or blocking shots and make them understand that we're not going to be pushed around."

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